Our Culture and Network
At GAIN we pride ourselves in a culture that values innovation, professionalism and exceeding customer expectations. GAIN leadership is visionary, using the continuous development of its people and competencies to position it to capitalise on opportunities. Our leaders have hands-on involvement in the development of GAIN’s products to ensure success and customer satisfaction.
The GAIN team stretches beyond our full-time employees to a network of part-time employees, independent consultants and a carefully selected host of partner companies. Relationships with GAIN network partners are built on trust and track record and are carefully maintained. We believe that all GAIN partners form part of our intellectual asset base and are essential in providing excellent products.
Our Team
Left to right: Dr Zane Simpson, Prof Jan Havenga, Anneke De Bod, Henk Neethling, Stefaan Swarts
Professor Jan Havenga (Director)
PhD (Logistics Management) from Stellenbosch University, Master of Business Administration from Unisa
Professor Havenga is an experienced market and macrologistics researcher and consultant, strategic and change management specialist, and expert in corporate strategy and marketing. As a globally renowned pioneer in the emerging field of macrologistics, Jan has authored and co-authored more than 30 scientific papers in this field and related disciplines, along with co-authoring the first book on macrologistics. He has led a large number of national and regional projects in this field in South Africa, Southern Africa, India, Uzbekistan and Mongolia. Jan is also a National Research Foundation-rated researcher thanks to his consistent contribution to areas such as freight flow and logistics cost measurement that has been used to inform national development, infrastructure planning and rail renaissance. As the initiator of GAIN's freight flow and logistics costs models, he has been involved in the evolution of these models for more than a decade. Jan also lectures full-time at Stellenbosch University and is regularly invited to speak on the topic of macrologistics as part of executive education programmes in countries such as Argentina, Austria, China, France, the USA, and the UK.
Anneke de Bod (Director & CEO)
Master of Commerce (Logistics Management) Stellenbosch University
At the helm of GAIN is Anneke de Bod, who drives our business strategy thanks to years of experience in logistics management within the Transnet Group, lecturing at Stellenbosch University, and sharing her knowledge by publishing research and consulting on various projects. Fascinated by the concept of people engagement – be they employees or customers – she never stops trying to find creative practical solutions that surpass their academic foundations. With more than a decade's worth of experience in strategy development and management consulting, Anneke leads GAIN with a passion and vision for its future.
Dr Zane Simpson (Director & Analyst)
PhD (Industrial Engineering) Stellenbosch University
Dr Zane Simpson is the mastermind behind the development of GAIN's macrologistics measurement tools, which include freight flow and logistics costs models that were pioneered in South Africa and followed by successful application in Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Mongolia and Uzbekistan. As a globally recognised and published researcher at Stellenbosch University's Department of Industrial Engineering, Zane frequently observes and contributes to new developments in macrologistics modelling. This allows him to refine and expand GAIN's macrologistics models each year to provide further functionalities and insights.
Stefaan Swarts (Analyst)
Master of Commerce (Operations Research) Stellenbosch University
As an experienced analyst, Stefaan Swarts helps GAIN translate the intricate complexities of real-life problems into detailed, insightful models. With the ability to focus on detail without losing sight of the bigger picture, Stefaan is invaluable to the conceptualisation and development of new macrologistics models.
Henk Neethling (Researcher/Analyst)
Bachelor of Commerce Honours (Logistics Management) Stellenbosch University
Henk’s main responsibilities as a researcher and analyst include writing and editing academic and market research; developing and editing presentations; analysis, management and processing of macro-economic data; development and maintenance of the company website; and general problem-solving. He also assists in marketing and communication; quantitative modelling processes; scenario planning; stakeholder engagement and consultation; and strategic thinking.
As a Master of Commerce (Logistics Management) student at Stellenbosch University's Department of Logistics, his research is focused on assessing the factors and barriers that impact the adoption of self-regulation in road freight transport. It is, more specifically, focused on the case of the Road Transport Management System (RTMS) in South Africa’s road freight transport sector.